Brittney Griner’s return to the court was the most-watched WNBA game on cable in 24 YEARS… as ESPN reports Mercury’s loss to Sparks peaked at 1 million viewers
- Brittney Griner played her first WNBA game in nearly two years on Friday night
- And fans couldn’t wait to see her show up for the Mercury against the Sparks.
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Brittney Griner’s return to WNBA action was the most-watched WNBA game on cable TV in 24 years, as her Phoenix Mercury was comfortably beaten by the LA Sparks in a game where scoring was largely secondary to Her presence.
Griner had not played a WNBA game since October 2021, as she was detained in Russia on February 17 last year for drug trafficking before spending nearly ten months in jail in the country.
And fans were obviously thrilled to see her play again in the United States, as ESPN (which broadcast the match) announcement a peak of 1 million viewers tuning in to the Friday night contest.
Additionally, an average of 683,000 viewers watched the Sparks’ 94-71 win, a 103% increase from last year’s WNBA opener on ESPN.
The return of seven-time All-Star Griner looks likely to give the league a boost, although interest in the WNBA has apparently increased even before the former Baylor star stepped back on the court.
Brittney Griner looked relaxed as she returned to the WNBA court for the first time in two years
The 31-year-old, who was released from a Russian prison in December, had 18 points in the loss
The league draft in April on ESPN drew 520,000 viewers, making it the most-watched WNBA draft since 2004. It was also a 42% increase over the previous year.
Still, as the league continues to set high ratings on television, there’s less optimism in some corners about in-person attendance at games.
Griner’s return was supported by Magic Johnson, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and Lakers coach Darvin Ham, but only 10,396 – just over the half capacity – attended the match at Crypto.com Arena.
“I mean, it was awesome,” Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard said after the game.
‘But honestly go LA. We didn’t sell the arena for BG? Like, I expected more, you know, to be honest. It was great, it was loud. But how was it not a sale? How was that not a sale?
Griner was released from a Russian penal colony on December 8 after President Biden authorized a trade, sending convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia.
Griner and the Mercury played in front of their home fans for the first time this season on Sunday, losing 75-69 to the Chicago Sky.
